Bookbinding.



No. 735,259. PATENTED AUG. 4, 1903.

. L. P. HUGHES. I

BOOKBINDING.

APPLICATION FILED OUT. 10, 1902.-

NO MODEL.

Wm]; hw/"tm PATENT Patented August 4, i903.

OFFICE.

LEVI P. HUGHES, OF HO'LYOKE, MASSACHUSETTS.

B OOKBINDING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 735,259, dated August 4, 1903. Application filed October 10, 1902. Serial No. 126,714. (No model.)

T aZZ whom it 'may concern:

at Holyoke, in the county of Hampden and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Bookbinding, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to bookbinding, and has for its object particularly toimprove the method of binding books of the character that are bound with paper covers, such as magazines, &'c., whereby the stitching or stapling together of the signatures may be avoided,

to the end that not only will the process of binding be more economical, but also to the end that the book will lie open practically fiat instead of, as at present, having a tendency to close upwhen opened.

Having these ends in view, the invention consists in means for securingtogether the leaves constituting each signature at a number of places along the back of each signature and in securing together the difierent signatures one to another and all to the paper cover. Byythis means the backs of the signatures are not broken,'except at separated points, the paper between these points constituting the natural hinge on which the book may open at any point.

I am aware that separate sheets have been bound together along one edge by the application of an adhesive to the trimmed edges of what have been erroneously termed signatures, when,in fact,t-heyare merely superposed single sheets in vertical alinement. In this construction there can be no hinge portion such as exists when the sheet is folded up to constitute a signature. In the one case-via, when the sheets are singly superposed and glue is applied to one edge-a pad is formed which, as is well known, can only be opened to a slight degree without breaking along the glued edge, whereas in the construction forming the subject-matter of this application the different sheets comprising each signature may swing one on the other, because of thehinge portion of the paper left unbroken between the transverse cuts through the backs of the signatures.

The accompanying drawings clearly illustrate my invention, and consist of- Figure 1, which is a perspective view of a number of signatures arranged as they would beif bound together and showing the cuts through their backs transversely of their folded portions. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of one signature, showing the adhesive applied thereto. In both of these views the I parts shown are much enlarged for the sake of more clearly illustrating the invention.

' Referring now to the drawings, a may indicate the different signatures grouped together in the position which they would occupy when bound together, the different sheets which go to make up the ditferentsignatures being shown in separated relation.

The signatures are gathered up in the same manner as when they are bound in the ordinary manner by stitching and are clamped together under pressure, the folded backs of the signatures protruding beyond the edge of the clamp; The signatures thus clamped together are then passed through a suitable machine, whereby the transverse grooves b are cut therein, as shown in Fig. 1. This operation is economically effected by subjecting the signatures to the action of suitable rotating saws or cutters mounted upon a rotatable spindle side by side. The depth of these grooves b, as indicated in Fig. 2, is sufficient to cut through the folded back of the innermost sheet of the signature, whatever may be the number of sheets constituting the same. After these transverse grooves 17 have been formed a liquid or semiliquid adhesive is then spread over the back of all the signatures while they are thus clamped together, the said adhesive filling the spaces between each signature and also substantially filling the transverse grooves b. By referring again to Fig. 2 it will be seen that thus filling the grooves 19 and covering the back of all of the signatures provides means for attaching the outer sheet of each signature to its neighbor, as well as to the cover, and by means of the adhesive within the grooves beach of the other sheets of the signature is secured in its proper relation to its neighbor and all of them also directly to the cover. Naturally the adhesive will flow from the groovesb to a greater or less extent each way between the edges of the difierent sheets abutting on said groove, whereby a secure binding effect is provided. The grooves b are located at such distances apart as to leave the hinged portions (indicated by c) of such area as will permit the book to be subjected to ordinary usage without liability to break these hinged por- 5 tions. Obviously .certain grades of paper would permit amuch wider spacing between the transverse grooves than others.

From the above description it will be seen that the difierent sheets constituting a signa- 16 ture may be so secured together as to be securely held in place, and yet only such a proportion of the inner margin of the leaves constituting the signatues will be needed to effect this binding, as is represented byalittle [5 more than the thickness of the signature from the folding-line of the inner sheet to the outer one-that is to say, assuming that the thickness referred to is that shown in Fig. 2 in section, it the same signatures were to be bound 20 by sewing or by stapling the line of stitches which would be required to properly hold the leaves would have to extend in about twice as far as the extreme depth of the transverse grooves 17 in order that the stitches might not be liable to break out when the book is opened.

There is therefore adouble advantage in the use of the above-described invention-name- 1y, economy in the use of this form of binding over stitching or stapling and the production of a book which when opened will lie practically fiat without having a tendency to close.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

1. The herein-described improvement in the art of bookbinding which consists in cutting transverse grooves. through the folded backs of the signatures at separated points thereon, whereby hinge portions between 40 said grooves remain intact, and then applying to said grooves a suitable adhesive to bind the edge of each sheet to its neighbor in said grooves.

2. The herein-described improvement in the art of bookbinding which consists in cutting transverse grooves through the folded backs of the signatures at separated points thereon, whereby hinge portions between said grooves remain intact, and then applying some suitable adhesive to said transverse grooves and to the hinge portion of the outer sheet of the signatures, whereby each sheet of the latter is bound to its neighbor in said grooves, and whereby the outer sheet of the signatures may adhere to a cover.

LEVI P. HUGHES.

' Witnesses:

WM. H. CHAPIN, LYDIA B. HUGHES. 

